United Once More: Chapter One
It is now the twenty-first century and the mighty Heroes of Albion have become nothing but legends, or have they? CHAPTER ONE Albion; A land that had seen many cruel deeds of war, slavery and destruction. A land protected by the mighty Heroes of Will, Skill and Strength. Heroes of magic who could make lightning appear from their very fingertips; their bodies covered will brilliant blue or magnificent red lines. Heroes graced with long limbs and eyes sharper than a hawk that could shoot a fly a mile away. Heroes with greater strength and fortitude than that of a troll and the rarest of all were the Heroes that had all three abilities, but Heroes are only legends now. Today, Albion isn’t protected by Heroes, but by an army trained with guns… Richard awoke to a pleasant sight. Memories of the previous night came flooding back to him, causing him to smile. Every Sunday night Richard would go out partying, trying to pick someone up. He wasn’t always lucky, but last night he had made a catch. In years past he had always gone to bed with a chalice of wine and a warm body or two next to him, but those days were over. These days he would be lucky to find someone once a month. Until last night, he had gone two months without, but it had been worth it. The brunette he had picked up had made it most pleasurable. On top of that she had been so easy to seduce. He found her sitting by herself, upset due to the recent breakup she had just experienced. She was vulnerable and Richard took advantage of it. He was patient and pretended to give his sympathy to her pathetic blubbering whilst continuously buying her drinks. Then, after a few good flattering words, she willingly followed him home. It was a bad idea; for Richard had plans other than just sleeping with her. Sighing, he reluctantly pulled away from the naked woman and began to get dressed in his military uniform. Due to government policy all healthy, fit and unemployed men had to join the army. Unfortunately, Richard met all the requirements and now had to protect the people he couldn’t give a damn about. It was the second time in his life he had to help people unwillingly with nothing to gain from it. True, he was being paid a decent salary but he was already rich – not that the government knew of his fortune – and getting more money was relatively useless. Once he was dressed he walked back into his bedroom and saw that the young woman was awake. ‘Good morning, my dear.’ Richard greeted the girl, handing over her clothes. ‘Did you sleep well?’ ‘Yes, I did, thank you.’ The girl blushed, accepting her clothes off him. ‘That’s good. Listen, if you’re not too busy this morning, I would like to take you somewhere.’ said Richard, smiling one of his most charming smiles. ‘No, I’m not busy.’ She replied quickly. ‘Where are we going?’ While she spoke she began to get dressed. ‘Oh, I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise now.’ And what a surprise it will be. He thought, with a smirk touching his handsome features. Half an hour later, Richard was leading the young woman through the crowded streets of Wraithmarsh. ‘I’ve lived in Wraithmarsh all my life, you know.’ The girl, Anna, told Richard conversationally. ‘What about you?’ ‘I’ve lived in a number of places over the years.’ said Richard truthfully. ‘But I was born here.’ He stopped outside of an old, dark cathedral. ‘Well, we’re here.’ he announced, before walking up the path to the cathedral’s entrance. ‘I’ve never been in here before.’ Anna admitted nervously, clutching Richard’s arm tightly. ‘Is this like an old church or something?’ ‘No, it’s a court, not that it’s used that much now.’ explained Richard. ‘In fact, this is the oldest building in Wraithmarsh.’ ‘Really?’ said an interested Anna. ‘Really.’ said a slightly amused Richard. ‘Over a thousand years ago, Wraithmarsh was known as Oakvale. It was a peaceful farming region until bandits attacked and pillaged the many towns leaving no survivors, except one. A small boy hid from the pirates and later grew up to be a fabled Hero that was stronger than a troll, swifter than a balverine, and was a gifted user of Will. A sort of magic. Then, a hundred years later, after the region of Oakvale had been rebuilt, disaster struck again. This time from an internal threat. A young man condemned his village and those nearby when he went to the Shadow Court and asked them to give him eternal youth. The Shadow Court did so willingly as long as each year the villager sacrificed someone else’s youth. As a result the beautiful region of Oakvale became a dark and dangerous marshland filled with banshees and hollow men. That was until it was reconstructed into the town we see today. Many people lost their lives during the construction of the city.’ Richard and Anna walked quietly through the dark cathedral. Anna was looking at Richard, wide-eyed, before bursting out laughing. ‘Oh, you almost had me there, Richard!’ she laughed. ‘There’s no such thing as magic, banshees and hollow men. As for that villager; there is no way anyone could stay young forever, unless he found the Fountain of Youth, which is also just a myth.’ ‘I wouldn’t be so sure, my dear.’ said Richard quietly. They had arrived in a large, old court room. ‘Would you hold this for me?’ he added, handing her a dark looking seal. ‘Sure,’ shrugged Anna. The moment she took it, she knew something was wrong. The seal began to fill her with dread and cut her fingers, and she screamed as three shadows appeared. Richard gave them a small bow. ‘Richard, what is going on?’ asked a terrified Anna. She gave another scream, this time of pain and terror as she felt her energy begin to drain, whilst being surrounded in grey fog and then… it was over. When she looked down at the seal she noticed that the skin on her hands had become thin and wrinkled, like her eighty year old grandmother’s hands. Anna then caught sight of her reflection in the cold black stone behind Richard and saw that she was now an old lady. But how was that possible? Unless…she looked quickly at the indifferent Richard. ‘That story…you were telling the truth, weren’t you?’ She was trembling all over. ‘But of course. And thanks to you, I will remain youthful.’Richard smiled. ‘You cold heartless monster!’ screamed Anna. ‘The police and army will know of this!’ ‘But who do you think they are going to believe? A respectable soldier like me or a mad old woman?’ smirked Richard. ‘But on the odd chance that they do believe you…’ The sound of a gunshot filled the air and Anna crumbled to the ground, dead. ‘My lords,’ said Richard, turning and giving them a slight bow. ‘We look forward to your next sacrifice.’ said one of the Shadow Judges coldly as a pair of shadows appeared to dispose of Anna’s body. It was such a shame too, thought Richard as he walked off to work (he refused to use one of those cars). She was quite pretty and was like lightning under the sheets. To get to work, Richard had to walk from one side of Wraithmarsh to the other. At one point he had to pass a local school. It was clearly break time when Richard walked past, for all the kids were outside running around screaming. Richard gritted his teeth. He hated children. They had more energy than they knew what to do with and always ran around pointlessly wasting time. He gritted his teeth even more as another loud scream sounded. He irritably looked over at the children and, in doing so, he noticed a six year old boy apart from the other children. He was sitting quietly under the shade of a nearby tree, reading. It was for this reason that Richard spared a few seconds to look before stopping to give the boy his full attention. He knew this boy. He knew that he had seen him before. His chocolate brown hair and sad, protected brown eyes looked familiar to him, but he didn’t know why. Then, as though the boy could feel Richard’s eyes on him, he looked directly at Richard and smiled. This made Richard frown and he slowly went on his way well aware of the boy’s eyes following him. I must be right. I must know him from somewhere and he obviously knows me; for him to smile at me. Richard mused. No, I’m imagining things. I probably saw him once before and didn’t even notice. The kid was just being surprisingly friendly to a stranger. Yes, that’s it. Convinced that he didn’t know the boy, Richard pushed him from his mind and continued on his way to work, wondering what pointless military exercises he was going to have to participate in today. An hour later, he was standing with nine other men, his training and working group. They were waiting for their commander. Each of them was talking about their weekend, but Richard didn’t join in. In fact, he never took part in their idle chatter and they never bothered to include him. ‘All right, that’s enough chit-chat!’ yelled their commander, Mark. They quickly jumped into rank, though Richard took his time. ‘I am very impressed with the progress you have all made, but now comes your toughest hand-to-hand challenge.’ The soldiers’ eyes lit up at the challenge while Richard mentally yawned. The last time Mark had set them a challenge Richard had done it without breaking a sweat. In fact, he hadn’t used any effort at all. ‘This is who you will be fighting. Our best soldier.’ Mark motioned to someone that Richard couldn’t see, but he could tell what his fellow soldiers thought of this champion. They all started laughing and wolf whistling. Richard assumed that it was a “pretty boy” as they called certain men. They had done the same thing to Richard until they saw how talented he was with a gun. ‘All right, knock it off, you dogs.’ laughed Mark. ‘When I call your name, you will come forth and have your butts kicked.’ The soldiers’ smiles disappeared immediately. Mark couldn’t be serious, could he? But he was and they all found out the hard way. ‘Right. Pete, you’re up!’ As Pete moved towards the unknown champion the other soldiers moved out of rank to watch. Richard didn’t join them. He didn’t find people fighting each other interesting unless he was the one fighting and only if the fight benefited him. He simply stood there and listened to Pete getting throttled while the other soldiers cheered him on. ‘Come on! You can do it!’ ‘Yeah! Come on, Pete! Show that little girl what you’re made of!’ This sparked Richard’s curiosity and he walked over to join his comrades. When he arrived he saw Pete on the ground panting while a slender young woman stood calmly above him. Her waist length, chocolate brown hair was tied back in a ponytail, which was moving slightly in the wind while her hazel eyes remained locked on Pete. Richard frowned; he knew that woman, but he didn’t know how. One by one his comrades stepped forward and each of them failed. ‘All right, Richard, come and give it your best shot.’ Richard calmly stepped forward still trying to figure out where he knew her from. The woman turned to face him and her eyes widened with surprise, before she smiled at him; recognition present in her eyes. So, she knows who I am, thought Richard, but he didn’t have long to think about it before she aimed a punch at his face. He caught her fist in his hand, earning gasps from the other soldiers and Mark. None of them had been able to block any of her attacks. She then dropped down low to knock Richard off his feet. Richard jumped before dodging another one of her attacks. He had to admit that she was fast, but she wasn’t quick enough to land a single blow on him. Eventually he began to tire – with boredom – of their little fight and he snaked behind her, twisting her arm around her back before wrapping his other arm around her waist, trapping her other arm by her side. Mark and Richard’s comrades just stared at them, open mouthed. Richard had beaten the best soldier in Albion. ‘Even after all these years, it’s just like old times, hey Reaver?’ The woman chuckled softly.